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Veteran coach Timbe dead
Sam Timbe died at the age of 69. PHOTO/COURTSEY
What you need to know:
Many may know him for his successes as a coach but Timbe was a goalkeeper in the 70s. He spent most of his playing career at Coffee FC as the number one goalkeeper, helping the club win the Uganda Cup.
URA coach Sam Timbe has died. He was 69. Timbe was pronounced by his club on Saturday, barely 24 hours before his team was due to face KCCA in a Fufa Super 8 clash.
“#SADNEWS We are saddened to inform you of the unfortunate passing of our esteemed head Coach, Sam Timbe this afternoon, while enroute to Nakasero Hospital for (Intensive Care Unit) ICU, as referred by St Catherine Hospital.” URA wrote on @URAFC_Official.
“Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time. Currently, our team is in camp at Standard Hotel, Kampala, preparing for the upcoming Fufa Super 8 cup semi-final match against KCCA FC, scheduled tomorrow (Sunday) at the MTN Omondi Stadium. Further updates will be provided in due course.”
Many may know him for his successes as a coach but Timbe was a goalkeeper in the 70s. He spent most of his playing career at Coffee FC as the number one goalkeeper, helping the club win the Uganda Cup.
“Renowned for his reflexes, braveness, good organisation of defence and game reading, the soft spoken shot stopper was also a spot-kick specialist. The pinnacle of his vital penalty saves was the heroic shootout performance in the 1981 Uganda Cup final against UCB FC when he blocked two penalties to seal Coffee’s first title in 11 years,” veteran sports journalist Hassan Badru Zziwa wrote in The Observer.
As a coach, Timbe won the regional Cecafa Kagame Club Cup four times – SC Villa (2005), Police FC (2006), Rwanda’s Atraco (2009) and Tanzania’s Young Africans (2011).
He also had spells with Malaysia premier league side, Persatuan Bolasepak Sarawak Football Club as well as Sofapaka and Tusker FC (Kenya).
Timbe won national titles in Rwanda and Tanzania too. He was also an assistant coach with Uganda Cranes before.
